Stalked, Stranded and Finally Sated (Contemporary Romance) (License to Love Series:Book 1)
Page 5
Woody and Alyssa were there, too. Alyssa had arrived after getting Clara’s letter that morning, jumping in her car and stopping at every town and service station until she got directions to Woody’s garage.
Even though she hadn’t actually seen her childhood friend in years, Clara found herself comforted by her presence; Alyssa may have been small in stature but she made up for it with sheer strength and determination. In the last few weeks she had been Clara’s rock, the only person she felt she could trust, even if she was just a voice on the other end of a phone line or words on a page.
Melinda told them that Charles “Chuck” Sanders had admitted to everything, the stalking, the threats, the tampering with her criminal file and her bank accounts, and they had found his computer with all of the information on it in the truck he had stolen from the co-op.
“There is going to be a lot of paperwork to go through, and there will be a trial but, hopefully, you should be able to get your life back. And I’m truly sorry for what you had to endure. It would have rendered most women helpless.” She looked at Clara with a newfound sense of respect.
“Thank you. I’m a little confused, though. If he confessed, why is there going to be a trial?” she asked.
“Apparently, he has a step-brother who’s a lawyer and he’s heading down here to represent his brother. They’re planning on entering a plea of not guilty by mental disease or defect.”
Clara sighed but nodded, accepting that this was going to drag on but resolved to see its conclusion.
“Once the paperwork is done, my record will be corrected, and everything will go back to the way it was?” Clara asked.
“It should. There’s plenty of evidence that he tampered with all of your information. We were even able to find your money. He hadn’t emptied out your accounts, he’d just listed them under another name. That way the bank didn’t really notice that the money was gone because it was still in their system. The only thing that had changed was the name on the account.”
“What about my apartment? My possessions?” Clara asked.
“That’s going to be a little more difficult. I’m sure there will be some kind of settlement that will let you get some of your stuff back but, unfortunately, some of your things may never be found.” Melinda told her with a straight face. She didn’t try to sugar coat it or cover up the fact that there were some things no amount of paperwork was going to be able to repair. “I’ve got to go now. I have to file this paperwork before Mr. Big Shot lawyer gets in tomorrow. Assuming he can find the courthouse.” She smiled, and Clara noticed how beautiful she truly was.
“Hey!” Woody exclaimed when Melinda left. “We were talking about going and getting a pizza and a few beers at Slice and Suds. Do you want to grab a bite to eat with us?”
Clara smiled. She had noticed the way that Alyssa had been looking at Woody. “You go on ahead. I have a few things to take care of here first, but we’ll catch up later.”
“You sure?” Alyssa asked, uncertain as to whether she should leave her friend’s side to go hang out with Woody.
Clara looked up at Shad and smiled. “Yes.”
After the two of them left, she leaned back against Shad, closed her eyes, and took a moment to process everything. “I still can’t believe it’s over. I have my life back.” She smiled slowly.
She felt him tense up and shift away from her. “Does that mean that you’ll be going back to your life?” he asked. He tried to sound as noncommittal as possible, but Clara heard the distress in his voice.
Opening her eyes, she met his gaze directly. “Well…” she paused, drawing out her response, “I guess I better do something.” The lost and scared girl on the side of the road was gone, replaced with someone who knew what life held and was determined to hold on and fight for every single moment.
Sadness flickered across his face as Shad struggled to regain his composure, and he looked away for a moment.
She moved around to sit in front of him. “I mean, if I leave, you’ll probably go back to stuffing all your paperwork in random boxes.”
He looked at her. “Are you sure that’s what you want? That man took a lot from you. I don’t want to be responsible for keeping you from what you really want.”
“But this is what I really want,” she insisted, as she leaned forward and kissed him, throwing her arms around his neck. Pulling back, Shad smiled his soft, slow smile.
“Let me show you how grateful I am to hear you say that,” he said as he scooped her up and carried her down the hall.
THE END
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